The new agency will have offices in London, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo, Oslo and Helsinki with about 200 staff. Southerly founder Shelley Hoppe will join Spoon’s board. Spoon is owned by publisher Bonnier.

Spoon, which claims to be Scandinavia’s largest content agency, works with clients including Volvo, Sandvik and Microsoft. The company has won awards in the US, Germany and the UK.

Southerly was founded in 2009 by Shelley Hoppe and Karen Brennan. Its clients include Shell, Philips and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Spoon CEO Anders Ribba (below with Hoppe) says: “Establishing Spoon in the UK has been on our wish list for quite some time, but it wasn’t until we met Southerly that we found the perfect match. We share a strong belief in the power of authentic and story-driven communications. We’re similar in many ways and I’m convinced that we can develop together, both in the Nordics and in the UK. We will exchange specialist knowledge and resources with each other from day one.”

Southerly CEO Hoppe says: “Right from our very first meeting, it was obvious that we had developed a very similar philosophy and approach to both delivering the very best possible work for our clients and developing and empowering our people. We are delighted to be joining the Spoon group – it feels like a natural next step that will undoubtedly enhance opportunities for our clients and staff.”